Ads opposing a local ballot measure that would restrict Airbnb in San Francisco vastly outstripped those in favor of the measure, according to a review by the Internet Archive.
Proposition F would limit the number of days a year hosts can rent out their homes to 75, require home-sharing platforms to report regularly to city government, ban rentals of in-law apartments and more. Airbnb has spent $8 million so far in hopes of defeating the ballot measure, which they say is overly aggressive.
The Internet Archive records and stores hours and hours of TV footage, but claims to have found only one ad supporting the ballot measure. That ad, their survey says, played 32 times for a total of 16 minutes; in comparison, ads in support of Airbnb aired for more than 26 hours.
Of course, these days, TV ads are only one part of how the campaigns have tried to reach voters; both sides have played in the digital space as well. In fact, the campaign that support Prop F, known as Share Better SF, released a new ad on YouTube today, which in a press release was said to be part of a "significant digital media buy."
